New York State Grievance Prog AR 2006.Pdf
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STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES INMATE GRIEVANCE PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT 2006 ELIOT SPITZER BRIAN FISCHER GOVERNOR COMMISSIONER INMATE GRIEVANCE PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT - 2006 INMATE GRIEVANCE PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT 2006 I. INTRODUCTION The Inmate Grievance Program (IGP) functions under Departmental Directive #4040 entitled "Inmate Grievance Program" and Departmental Directive #4041 entitled "Inmate Grievance Program Modification Plan" and is established by the statutory mandates of Section 139 NYS Correction Law and N.Y.C.R.R., Title 7, Part 701. The Inmate Grievance Program provides each inmate an orderly, fair, simple and expeditious method ofresolving grievances pursuant to Section 139, NYS Correction Law. This grievance program includes procedures for inmates to resolve allegations of discriminatory treatment in accordance with the State Commission of Correction regulation 9 NYCRR Part 7695. Grievances filed prior to July 7, 1990 were reviewed by the NYS Commission of Correction and responded to by the Commissioner. Correction Law 139 was amended by Chapter 373 of the Laws of 1990 deleting the requirement that the Commission of Correction review individual grievances, yet required the Commission of Correction to review and assess the grievance process on an annual basis. The elimination of the advisory step ensures that the grievance process is more expeditious while at the same time allows the Commission of Correction to provide oversight. On September 28, 1992, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Associate Attorney General, pursuant to the authority conferred by Title 42, United States Code, Section 1997e and Part 40 of Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations granted full certification that the NYS Department of Correctional Services Inmate Grievance Program is in substantial compliance with the standards set forth in Part 40 of Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations. Based on this certification, the court may order that prior to litigating claims under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, New York State inmates shall exhaust any remedies they have with respect to the claim through the Inmate Grievance Program. For the pwpose of this order, the disposition of the Central Office Review Committee (CORC) constitutes sufficient proof of exhaustion. In 1996, the federal government passed the Prisoner's Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) which enacted the same requirement for all inmates. On May 29, 2001, the United States Supreme Court decision in Booth v. Churner required that prisoners exhaust their administrative remedies before bringing damage lawsuits in federal court even if the administrative remedy does not provide damages. Subsequently, on February 26, 2002, the United States Supreme Court decision in Porter v. Nuss/e held that the exhaustion requirement applies to all inmate suits about prison life, whether they involve general circumstances or particular episodes and whether they allege excessive force or some other wrong. These decisions, along with the PLRA have had an impact on the number of grievances being appealed to CORC. The impact is addressed in Part IV of this report. After an extensive review, the revision of Directive #4040 was issued on July 12, 2006. This revision included changes such as increases in the time frames at all levels, including the, filing of the grievance by the inmate. In addition, the processing of grievances after transfer was revised to allow the inmate to determine if he/she wished to appeal the decision. Also, a new section of the directive was established to describe procedures already in place for the processing I of Strip Search/Strip Frisk grievances. The purpose of these revisions was to ensure that the IGP remains an orderly, fair, simple and expeditious method of resolving grievances and, at the same time, remains in compliance with the ·standards set forth in Part 40 of Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Certification. II. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF IGP WORKLOAD The number of grievances filed in 2006 was 44,484, a decrease from the 45,345 filed in 2005. This is a decrease of 861 grievances as compared to the increase of758 grievances realized last year. However, the trend in the last seven years is one of fluctuating from an increase to a decrease each year and vice-versa with a high in 1999 of 45,797 grievances and a low of 41)81in2000. The non-calendared inmate contacts decreased steadily from 37,999 in 1999 to the 25,625 in 2005. In 2006, however, non-calendared contacts increased 3,911 to 29,536. The trend by inmates to file a grievance so that the administrative remedies can be exhausted has continued. Thus, the inmates who do file grievances are tending to exhaust the administrative remedy with an appeal to CORC. This 2006 total of 44,484 represents a decrease of 1.9%, while the inmate population decreased by .07% from the 63,360 average in 2005 to an average of 63,316 in 2006 (refer to graphs #1 and #2). In 2006, there were 702.5 grievance submissions per one thousand inmates, which is 1.8% less than the 715. 7 grievance submissions per one thousand inmates in 2005. During 2006, IGP field staff recorded approximately 29,536 non-calendared inmate contacts which clarified issues and/or enabled inmates to resolve problems without the submission of calendared grievances. Non-calendared contacts in 2006 reflect an increase of 3,911 from the 25,625 non-calendared contacts logged in 2005. In 2006, there were 4, 796 grievances ( l 0. 78% of the total filed) informally resolved by the Inmate Grievance Resolution Committee (IGRC). The number of informal resolutions realized by the IGRC in 2006 is less than the 5,324 grievances (11.74% of the total filed) in 2005. This is a decrease of 528 informal resolutions, or a 9.9% decrease (refer to graphs #3 and #4). There were 31,409 Inmate Grievance Resolution C_ommittee (IGRC) hearings (70.61 % of total filed) held statewide in 2006, a decrease from the 31,426 hearings (69.30% of total filed) in 2005. This reflects a decrease of 17 IGRC hearings. This decrease is consistent with the decrease in total grievances filed statewide (refer to graphs #5 and #6). In 2006, there were 2,646 grievances closed and dismissed by the IGRC in accordance with Directive #4040, Section V. A. 5. This represents 5.9% of all grievances filed. For comparison, in 2005 a total of 2, 796 grievances, or 6.2% of all grievances filed, were closed and dismissed by the IGRC. A total of25,189 grievances were processed at the Superintendent's level in 2006. This reflects a decrease of 112 grievances, or a 0.4% decrease, from the 25,301 grievances addressed by the Superintendent in 2005. 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